Wheelbarrow



W. LSHOWALTER,

wHEELBAnHow. APPLICATION FILED JUNE IO, 1919.

Patented July 18, 1922.

Utilita@ i STATFLS PATENT tllililtfl.

WILLIAM E. SHOWALTER, 0F HUNTNGBURG, NDIANA.

WHEELBARROW.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 18, 1922.

Application filed June 10, 1919. Serial No. 303,148.

To all w z om t may concern Be it known that l, VViLLLiir E. Srioiviir rim, a citizen of the United States, residing at Huntingburg, in the county of Du an d "are provided for these barrows to travel on and as a genera-l rule consist of a number of boards laid side by side] and extending transversely to the length of the runway. Due to faulty construction or to continued usage, some of these boards after a time become higher than others thus presenting a very rough or uneven surface for the barrow to travel over. From experience, l have found that it is very difficult to force thewheel of a heavily loaded barrow over these obstructions even at the expense of considerable eX- tra effort, and the jar, incident to the contact of the wheel with these obstructions, is transmitted directly to the arms and shoulders of the operator, making the work of handling a barrow under such conditions extremely vdifficult and tiring. l

With the foregoing in mind, l have provided the present invention, the principal object of which is to provide a novel mounting for the wheel of a barrow which will permit said wheel to yield readily upon coming in contact with an obstruction without transmitting anyof the jar or strain incident to such contact to the arms and shoulders of the operator, and, inaddition, willy aid in forcing the wheel over Such obstructions.

Another object of the invention is to so construct the wheel mounting that the same may be used in connection with any standard type of wheel barrow and may even be used in connection with other vehicles, with suitable modifications. y

A further obj ect is to provide an invention of this character which is simple and practical and offers advantages of sufficient importance to compensate for the slight advance in cost of a wheel-barrow having same ap- .e plied thereto.

rstill further and more specific object of they invention is to provide a wheel-barrow having the supporting wheel thereof mounted in a sliding frame; suitable shock absorbing means being associatedl with said frame to permit a limited movement thereof in a rearward and vertical direction upon encountering an obstruction.

The foregoing and other objects ofthe inventio'nas well as the specific construction,

combination7 and arrangementpof the elements thereof will be more readily understood from the following description and accompanying drawings. 'y y ln the drawings Figure 1 is a side elevational view of a wheelbarrow constructed in accordance with my invention;

.Figure 2' is a bottom plan view partly broken away and partly in( section; and

Figure 3 is a detail view'of a slightk modification.

In the drawings, the body of the barrow is L designated at l and be of any preferred construction. This body is supported upon a pair of. holsters 5 which are arranged adjacent` the opposite ends thereof and in turn are supported upon the convergent handle n bars 6. Bolts 7 are passed downwardly through the body 4l, bolsters 5, and handle bars 6, and are provided with nuts 8' for securing these parts together'. y the forward end of the body` a pair of in# clined braces 9 are provided, each of which has one end bolted to thebody as indicated` at .10 and `its opposite endbolted to oneof the handle bars 6 as indicated at ll.

Each of the said handle vbars 6 has bolted to the yinner side thereof, and ata point adjacent the rear end of the body, theyupper end of a depending supporting post 12. An

To reinforce inclined brace 13, provided for each of these posts, has one end thereof engaged with the lower end ofthe post as shown and secured thereto by a bolt 11i, the otherend of the brace being bolted to the under side of one of the handle securing theforward end of the body 4. A bar 15 connecting the posts 12 at their lower ends serves to retain'these posts properly spaced apart and is secured to the posts by means of the same lower ends of the braces 13 thereto.- e

Plates 16 and 17, are fastened to the upper and lower faces of each handle bar 6 at the forward end ,of said bar by means of bolts 11 and 18. Both of these plates project be-1 bars 6 by one of the bolts 7 y bolts 14 securing the.

yond thev end of the bar and the plate 16 is bent to entend downwardly and outwardly `from said end at a predetermined angle. The plate 17 is first bent upwardly as indicated at 19 to lie fiat against the beveled portion 2O of the bar and is then bent at right angle to extend downwardly in spaced parallelism with the opposing portion of plate 16. Bolts 21 are passed through these two plates to secure the same together and spacing sleeves 22, surrounding these bolts and confined between the plates9 serve to keep the latter properly spaced apart. It should be noted here. that, although the handle bars 6 6 are slightly convergent the projecting or inclined portions of the plates 16 and 17 of one handle bar, extend in spaced parallel ism with the corresponding plate of the other handle bar. After these plates 16 and 17 are attached to each of the handle bars as explained, they are bent so as to extend parellel with. the longitudinal center of the barrow, asindicated in Figure 2.

The supporting wheel 23 of the barrow is mounted upon. an axle 241., journaled in the sides of an oblong` frame 25. For convenience in making this frame out of bendable metal, the same may be constructed in two pieces; vone piece being bent to provide the two sides and one end of the frame and the other piece providing the opposite end of the frame and having itsl extremities bent at right angle and bolted to the side members provided by the other piece as indicated at 26. lVithin this frame. upon one side of the wheel 23 there is provided a reinforcing and spacing brace 27 in the form ofa plate eX- tending the width of the frame and having its end bent to extend along the sides of the frame; said ends being bolted to the sides as indicated at 23. 1

Angularly disposed slides 29 in the forni of blocks are secured vto the sides of the frame by' means of bolts 36 and operate between the plates 16 and 17 carried by each of the handle bars. `Washer plates 31 positioned between these slides and the sides of the frame prevent wearing of the latter. .Plates 32 fastened to the outer faces of the blocks or slides 29 engage the sides of the plates 16 and 17 to retain the blocks or slides there between. Sliding movement of the slides or blocks 29 betweenthe plates 16 and is limited by the spacing bolt 22 as is obvious. i

Fastened to the inner end of the frame are plurality of guide bolts 33. An end of each of these bolts is inserted through an opening provided therefor in the end of the frame and secured against movement in said opening by means vof the nuts 3a threaded thereon and engaging opposite sides of the frame as shown. The opposite ends of these guide rods or bolts are mounted to slide through openings provided in a plate 35 dis posed beneath the body l and between the handle bars 6. A second plate 36 is mounted to slide on the rods 33 between the plate 35 and the adjacent end of the frame 25, and this second plate 36 may be adjusted longitudinally of the rods by means of the nut 37 engaging one side thereof. Encircling the rods 33 and confined between the plate 36 and 35 are the coil springs 38, the tension of which may be varied by adjusting the plate 36.

The ends 3.9 of the plate are bent at right angles as shown and bolted as indicated at 40, to the intermediate portions 41 of a pair of opposed plates 42. Each of these plates 112 has the ends thereof bolted to the inner side face of one of the handle bars 6 and the intermediate portion 41 thereof bowed outwardly from said handle bar to lie vflatly in engagement with the end 39 of the plate 35 as shown. One end of each of these plates 42 passes between one of the posts 12 and the adjacent handle bar 6 and is held in position by means of the same bolt securing the post to the handle bar.

In operation, when the wheel 23 strikes an obstruction, it will be permitted to move rearwardly and upwardly carrying with it the frame 25. The slides 29 carried by the frame will move rearwardly and upwardly betweenthe plates 16 and 17 until limited by contact with the spacing bolts 22 adjacent the forward ends of the handle bars 6. This rearward movement of the frame 25 places under tension the shock absorbing springs 38 and the reaction of these springs tends to force the frame forward again thus carrying the wheel over the obstruction. It will be seen therefore that the sliding frame not only acts as a shock absorber', but by placing the springs 38 under tension enables these springs to exert a pushing force upon the frame suflicient to enable the same to force the wheel over the obstruction. The fact that the supporting wheel moves vertically as well as rearwardly, combined with the forward pushing power obtained by placing the springs 38 under compression, enables the barrow to pass readilyover the roughest sortof surface without any appreable jarring action or strain upon the shoulders of the operator.

In Figure 3 l have shown the modifications which would be necessary in applying the invention to a metal wheel-barrow of the type having the handle bars thereof made of tubular piping. In this form, the inner end portions of the plate 16 and 17 (conforming to the plates 16 and 17 previously described), instead of being applied to the upper and lower faces of the handle bar 18 are brought together as shown and fastened 'to the upper face of the handle bar as indicatednt 19.. This is practically the only .change necessary in applying the invention to a wheel-barrow of this type although it might be desirable in some instances to secure the plates 16 and 17 to the under face oi the handle bar 18 instead of to the upper face thereof.

AIaving thus fully described my invention, what I claim is l. A wheel-barrow comprising a body, guides carried by said body, a sliding frame supported by said guides and capable of rearward and vertical movement with respect to said body, spring means associated with said fra-me in such a way as to be placed under compression by the rearward and vertical movement thereof, and a supporting wheel carried by the frame and movable therewith.

2. A wheel-barrow comprising a body, downwardly inclined guides carried by said body, a frame, slides carried by said frame and movable in said guides, shock absorbing springs connected with said frame, and a supporting wheel carried by the frame.

3. A wheel-barrow comprising a body, a supporting wheel, a movablel frame carried by said supporting `w reel, guides carried by said body, slides carried by said frame, and operating in said guides, said guides being inclined to permit rearward and vertical movement of said 'frame and supporting wheel, guide rods carried by the inner end of said frame, guide plates carried by said body and provided with openings to receive said guide rods, and springs encircling said guide rods and adapted to be placed under compression by the movement of said springs, said springs serving as a shock absorber and as a means for forcing the supporting wheel over obstructions.

In testimony whereof, I have afiixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM E. SHOVVALTER.

Witnesses HENRY WUETGHER, MICHAEL BosLER. 

